Carrier To Play Part In Battle's Celebration

It's a pretty heady start for sailors on a six-month Mediterranean cruise who could in short order find themselves within shooting distance of Bosnia.

Until then, the more than 6,000 sailors and airmen aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, the Navy's newest, can savor memories of the first week in June. That's when the carrier and 11 ships of its battle group will anchor in English and French ports to help commemorate the 50th anniversary of D-Day.

And on June 5, the day before the anniversary, President Bill Clinton will fly aboard.

``It's pretty exciting,'' said Petty Officer 2nd Class Agustin Delarosa said of his - and the carrier's - first-ever trip to the Med. ``It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. It's a part of history. And how often do you get to meet the president?''

After Clinton spends the night on the 5th, said Atlantic Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Morgan Smith, the president will join 159 veterans and dignitaries and 30 reporters and cameramen for a sunrise memorial service honoring the men lost at sea during the D-Day invasion.

Delarosa, interviewed before the carrier left Friday, said he didn't think the cool attitude some observed last year when Clinton visited the USS Theodore Roosevelt would carry over to this visit. ``I think he's established himself,'' he said. To prepare for Clinton's visit, White House staffers sailed with the carrier as it headed across the Atlantic to the English Channel. Also along for the ride are nine D-Day veterans related to crew members.

Max Carlson, the grandfather of Petty Officer 3rd Class Leonard Jarles, was an Army private when he crossed the Atlantic in a British troop ship in 1944.

``It was dirty and crowded,'' he recalled. ``We slept in the mess halls on hammocks. This,'' he said of the carrier, ``is going to be great.'' True to his enlisted man's roots, he refused an officer's stateroom, choosing instead to sleep down below with the crew.

When the battle group arrives in the English Channel June 2 after conducting joint training with the French navy, the ships will separate and make port calls across southern England. The ships will be open for tours.

On the 5th, the pomp and circumstance begins in earnest: The Queen of England will conduct a review of ships from the Royal Yacht Britannia in the waters off of Portsmouth. Later in the day, Clinton will fly aboard the George Washington with Navy Secretary John H. Dalton.

And on the morning of the 6th, 150 D-Day veterans will fly aboard the carrier to join Carlson, Clinton and the crew for the sunrise service, which will be broadcast live.

The Clinton entourage will then fly ashore for more D-Day events.

After lunch, the Atlantic Fleet band will serve up 40s-style swing tunes for the vets, who will fly off later in the day.

After the ceremonies, the ships will sail to French ports for two more days of port calls. On the morning of the 9th, said Smith, the battle group will set sail for the Med. There, it will trade places with the USS Saratoga battle group, which will then begin sailing back home.

By the time the Saratoga is halfway across the Atlantic, Bosnia may be beckoning the George Washington.

But at least some of the crew views the trip more as an opportunity to put their ship, commissioned in 1992, through its paces.

``We've done a lot of work,'' said Petty Officer 1st Class Darrell Hood. ``Hopefully, we'll now get the opportunity to see if it's all it's cracked up to be.''